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Leon Draisaitl
German|birth_date = |birth_place = Cologne, Germany|draft = 3rd overall|draft_year = 2014|draft_team = Edmonton Oilers|career_start = 2014|image = Draisaitl.jpg|image_size = 320px}}Leon Draisaitl (born 27 October 1995) is a German professional ice hockey forward, currently playing for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Draisaitl grew up playing hockey in Germany until he was selected second overall in the 2012 CHL Import Draft by the Prince Albert Raiders After two seasons with the Raiders, he was selected third overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Draisaitl is the son of former German national team player Peter Draisaitl, who represented Germany at World Championships, World Cup and at the 1988, 1992 and 1998 Olympic Winter Games and played 146 games for the country. Playing career Before moving to North America to continue his playing career, Draisaitl spent the 2011–12 season in the German Development League (DNL) with the Jungadler Mannheim U18 team, leading his team to capture the DNL Championship. He was recognized for his outstanding performance by being named the DNL Player of the Year. Kelowna Rockets Following two seasons playing with the Prince Albert Raiders, Draisaitl was traded to the Kelowna Rockets during the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, and the trade was made official 5 January. Draisaitl would help the Rockets to the 2015 WHL Championship, where he would be named playoff MVP, putting up 28 points in 19 games. Draisaitl won the Stafford Smythe as Memorial Cup MVP the same year, although the Rockets did not win the Memorial Cup, losing the championship final in overtime 2–1 to the Oshawa Generals. Edmonton Oilers Draisaitl was drafted third overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, making him the highest drafted German-trained player in NHL history (Dany Heatley, who was selected second overall in 2000, was born in Germany but raised in Canada). On 12 August 2014, the Oilers signed Draisaitl to a three-year entry level contract. After making the Oilers team out of training camp, Draisaitl made his NHL debut on 9 October 2014 against the Calgary Flames. He would score his first NHL goal against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Anton Khudobin on 24 October 2014. Draisaitl would appear in 37 games for the Oilers during the 2014-15 season, recording two goals and four assists, before being sent back to the Prince Albert Raiders. The move was done in part to prevent Draisaitl's contract from moving one year closer to free agency (he would have been counted if he was on the team's roster after 40 games). Draisaitl entered the 2015-16 season with the Oilers AHL team, the Bakersfield Condors, but was recalled after getting 2 points in 6 games. He had a successful year, scoring 51 points in 72 games. He scored the final NHL goal in history at Rexall Place in a 6–2 Oilers win over the Vancouver Canucks On March 17th 2017, Draisaitl broke the all time NHL record for most points by a German player, passing Marco Sturm's record of 59 points. On March 23rd 2017, he became the first Oiler player since 1990 to have 6 straight multi point games. International play Draisaitl represents Germany internationally. He played in the World Junior Championship in 2013 and 2014. He served as the German team captain at the 2014 tournament. He was ejected from a round-robin game against the American team after a hit from behind and was later assessed a one-game suspension. Draisaitl was named to the Germany men's national ice hockey team for competition at the 2014 IIHF World Championship. Career statistics Regular season and playoffs International Awards and honours External Links * Leon Draisaitl's stats on hockeydb Category:Born in 1996 Category:Edmonton Oilers players Category:Edmonton Oilers draft picks Category:Prince Albert Raiders alumni Category:Kelowna Rockets alumni Category:German ice hockey players Category:2014-15 NHL Debuts Category:National Hockey League first round draft picks